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Wednesday, 21 November 2012

Russian lawmakers believe it is time to remove monuments to the
leader of the Bolshevik Revolution, Vladimir Lenin, from town and city
squares across the country.

Memorials to such “a controversial figure” should be re-located in
museums or alleys with statues of other historic persons, suggested the
author of the initiative, Liberal-Democratic party (LDPR) Deputy
Aleksandr Kurdyumov.
The idea of “De-Leninization” was welcomed by some members of the ruling United Russia party, writes Izvestia daily.
According
to Kurdyumov, the main argument in favor of the removal of monuments is
the high cost of maintenance. He says they would be better looked after
and safe from vandalism in museums.
Soviet-legacy statues of Vladimir Ulyanov (Lenin)
can still be seen in central squares of almost all Russian towns. There
is hardly a single settlement in the country without a street named
after the Bolshevik leader.
The time has come to get rid of
Lenin’s “stranglehold” and leave only monuments that are considered true
masterpieces of art and only in those places where local population
want to see them, the LDPR lawmaker insists.
It often happens
that there no other memorials but to Lenin in Russian towns and that is
“unfair” to other outstanding personalities – such as Peter the Great,
General Aleksandr Suvorov, Tsar Ivan the Terrible and others.
Under
the proposal, municipal authorities should hold referendums to find out
where people want the Lenin statues to be placed. If they do not want
to see the leader of the 1917 Revolution at all, such monuments should
be dismantled, sent to museums or sold to collectors, Kurdyumov
suggests. The money received from the sales could be used, for instance,
to create new parks.
United Russia’s lawmaker, Valery
Trapeznikov agrees that the idea should first be discussed with the
people. In the USSR, monuments were erected at the government’s bidding.
If now they are dismantled by order of the authorities, “it can lead to a wave of protests,” he told Izvestia.
Meanwhile, the Communist party (KPRF) is strongly opposed to the idea of removing monuments to their key ideologist. “Lenin is the founding father of the Russian Federation…Same as George Washington in America,” a
senior member of the party, Sergey Obukhov stressed. He noted that some
laws signed by the Bolshevik leader are still valid in Russia.
Besides that, the destruction of “architectural pieces” of historic value is illegal, the KPRF deputy pointed out.